1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video game including a battle between a player character, which operates in accordance with an instruction from a player, and an enemy character.
2. Related Art
To date, a variety of categories of game in a video game field have been known. Among them, a game which receives support from a large number of users is a role playing game (hereafter referred to as an RPG). In the RPG, the game is implemented by a player assuming a role of a player character in a hypothetical world and, while moving the player character in a hypothetical space, using various items to solve a task. A main task given to the player in the RPG is a battle between the player character and the enemy character. Also, among adventure games (hereafter referred to as ADG)) too, there is one in which a battle similar to that of the RPG is carried out.
As an attack method of the player character against the enemy character during the battle in the RPG or ADG, there is, for example, a simple attack with a weapon with which the player character is equipped, an attack using an item which the player character owns, an attack with magic which can be unleashed depending on an attribute etc. of the player character, and the like. However, all of the attack methods being commonplace as the attack method of the player character in the battle of the RPG, and an effect inflicted on the enemy character due to a selected attack being more or less determined, a player's degree of skill has been little reflected in a result of the game.
In connection with this, although there is no game with a story element like the RPG and ADG, as games in the video game field in which the player's degree of skill is clearly reflected in the result of the game, there are a racing game and a puzzle game. By incorporating an element of this kind of game, in which the player's degree of skill is reflected, in the game with the story element like the RPG and ADG, it is possible to increase a variety of the game like the RPG and ADG. Herein, there has been a video game incorporating the racing game in place of a normal battle between the player character and the enemy character (for example, refer to Patent Document JP-A-10-267674).
A race incorporated in place of the battle in the video game of Patent Document JP-A-10-267674, from a point of being a contest between an own car (corresponding to the player character), which runs in accordance with an operation of the player, and an opponent car (corresponding to the enemy character), which runs in accordance with a control of a game device, has a commonality with the battle, which is a contest between the player character, which acts in accordance with an operation of the player, and the enemy character, which acts in accordance with a control of a game device. Consequently, it has been possible to incorporate the racing game, as it is, in place of the battle in the RPG and ADG.
In connection with this, although the puzzle game has a commonality with the racing game from a point of being a game in which the player's degree of skill is clearly reflected in the result, it is not a game which includes an element of the contest between the player character and the enemy character as in the battle of the RPG and ADG. Consequently, to date, even in a case of incorporating the element of the puzzle game in the RPG, it has been incorporated as a completely separate task from the battle, rather than incorporated as the main task given to the player. For this reason, even though the element of the puzzle game is incorporated in the RPG and ADG, it has not happened that a degree of skill with which the player plays the puzzle game is reflected in the battle.